Medco sees benefits in building a branded web store with Drugstore.com

Drugstore.com is working with Medco Health Solutions to build a Medco-branded online store. Drugstore.com will provide Medco with technical development, various other services, consumer health products and over-the-counter medicines.

Drugstore.com Inc. is working with Medco Health Solutions Inc., a pharmacy benefits manager, to launch a Medco-branded online store by mid-year. Drugstore.com will provide Medco with technical development and operations services, consumer health products and over-the-counter medicines, fulfillment, and customer care for non-prescription drug products.

“We look forward to developing this offering with Medco, which provides pharmacy benefits for over 60 million Americans,” says Dawn Lepore, CEO of Drugstore.com, No. 41 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

Under the agreement, Medco will provide its members with information on health-related products and interactions of over-the-counter medicines with prescription drugs that they might also be taking. In addition, flexible spending account services for Medco members will be supported through Drugstore.com to identify and approve over-the-counter products that are approved for flexible spending accounts. The store will accept debit cards issued for flexible spending accounts and provide appropriate receipts.

Drugstore.com recently implemented a new system to identify over-the-counter, vision and pharmacy products for flexible spending accounts before the Jan. 1, 2009, deadline set by the Internal Revenue Service that requires retail pharmacies to operate a certified inventory information approval system.